ASUG president discusses challenges for 2008 -- January 8, 2008 SearchSAP.com caught up with ASUG’s president, Steve Strout, to discuss the organization’s busy 2007, including which SAP announcement had the biggest effect on ASUG and its membership. Strout also looks at how ASUG will put Business ByDesign to use in its own organization, what members are requesting, and how ASUG hopes to improve its services in the coming year. Download this podcast here...
Jan 10, 2008
NCPB tames ‘spider webs on LSD’ with SAP -- December 10, 2007 BOSTON -- The Northern California Public Broadcasting Company (NCPB) had no easy way to view and project budget and fundraising trends until it implemented Outlooksoft. NCPB stuck with the product after SAP acquired it and has already seen significant ROI. SearchSAP.com spoke with Jeff Nemy, NCPB’s chief financial officer, at SAP’s Influencer Summit last week to learn more about how SAP Business Planning and Consolidation has helped t...
Jan 10, 2008
ASUG influencing SAP products behind the scenes -- November 6, 2007 One of the Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG)’s main functions is to give member feedback to SAP on its products and services in order to influence future offerings. This influence is exercised in many ways, including surveys, conferences and ASUG meetings with SAP executives. Rod Masney, chairperson of ASUG’s board, and Steve Strout, CEO of ASUG, recently returned from meeting with SAP executives in Germany. They share their exp...
Nov 07, 2007
Becoming (and staying) a business process expert takes business, technical skills -- November 1, 2007 Business process experts face constantly changing demands and must combine technical and business skills to be successful. In this podcast, SearchSAP.com career expert Jon Reed and Marco ten Vaanholt, director of SAP’s business process expert community , discuss how to become a business process expert (BPX) and how to keep up with the changing landscape and demand for business process skills. Te...
Nov 01, 2007
MassMutual's NetWeaver admin director outlines SAP project tips SAP projects are complex, especially for large organizations. In this podcast, MassMutual’s director for SAP NetWeaver administration offers tips and tricks from his TechEd 2007 presentation. Download the podcast here...
Oct 26, 2007
SAP NetWeaver jobs: What the future holds With NetWeaver upgrades going strong and enterprise service-oriented architecture (ESOA) projects becoming a reality, it is an exciting time to be an SAP professional. In this podcast, SearchSAP.com career expert Jon Reed and Ori Inbar, SAP's senior vice president of solution marketing for NetWeaver, discuss emerging SAP NetWeaver job roles and explain where talent shortages are expected in the future. Also, Inbar offers a sneak peek at TechEd 2007. Down...
Oct 26, 2007
SAP Business ByDesign: An introduction -- September 20, 2007 NEW YORK -- On Sept. 19, SAP released more details of its midmarket, ERP on demand product, formerly codenamed A1S. The product, now dubbed SAP Business ByDesign , will be priced at $149 per user per month, and already has early customer stories. At the unveiling event in New York, SearchSAP.com caught up with Hans-Peter Klaey, SAP's SMB (small and medium-sized business) president, and an early customer, Harry Krisch, SAP practice dire...
Sep 26, 2007
SAP SRM release 6.0 has been pushed back twice and is now branded as SAP SRM 2007. The new version will require users to be up to speed on MDM, Enterprise Portal and other NetWeaver components. SearchSAP.com checked in with veteran SRM (supplier relationship management) site expert and author Sachin Sethi on what's going on with SAP SRM, what the technology requirements will be, and whether SAP can keep up with the niche vendors. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
Supply chain management (SCM) is at the core of many businesses and the technology is developing at a rapid pace. According to Cambridge, Mass.-based AMR Research, the market for supply chain applications grew 7% in 2006 and is expected to reach $7.9 billion by 2011. SearchSAP.com caught up with AMR vice president of research John Fontanella to get an overview of what’s going on in SCM, where SAP fits in, what to expect next from RFID, and other supply chain management topics. Download this podc...
Aug 23, 2007
Amidst the technology, cost and scheduling issues that arise in SAP implementation projects, the human element can often get lost in the shuffle. But Abiomed, a midsized medical devices manufacturer, found that staffing, communication, motivating project resources, and finding the right mix of consultants and employees are all important factors in a successful SAP project. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
Localization of products, support materials and back-end systems is critical for SAP customers doing business in international markets. In this podcast, the Globalization and Localization Association gives some tips for success. Download this podcast here
Aug 23, 2007
SearchSAP.com spoke with Steve Strout, ASUG’s incoming executive vice president. Strout will take over as president of ASUG later this year. In his day job, Strout is the CIO of Morris Communications, a privately held media company, based in Augusta, Ga., which counts 27 newspapers, 33 radio stations and many other publishers in its portfolio. Morris has been running SAP for about four years and is at the tail end of an SAP ERP 2005 upgrade. Based on his hands-on experience, Strout offers his th...
Aug 23, 2007
SAP has been pushing its business process initiative for some time, and the new BPX community is beginning to gain some traction. But what exactly is a business process expert, and how do those skills translate into an actual job role? We sat down with Helen Sunderland, platinum consultant at SAP Canada, and Marilyn Pratt, BPX community evangelist, to talk about what SAP is trying to accomplish and how SAP professionals can benefit. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
Master data management (MDM) is becoming an important technology for many SAP customers. This podcast gives a demonstration of SAP's MDM offering from Sunil Gupta, director of solutions marketing for SAP Labs, looks at some of the latest SAP MDM news from Sapphire, and previews what's coming next. Download this podcast here
Aug 23, 2007
Governance, risk and compliance (GRC) has been on the radar of SAP users for some time. The topic is constantly evolving, with new regulations seeming to pop up daily and companies looking for ways to leverage GRC solutions to add value to their business. In this podcast from Sapphire 2007, SearchSAP.com spoke with Amit Chatterjee, senior vice president for SAP's GRC business unit, to get the latest news and trends, look at SAP's announcements from Sapphire, and see what's coming next. Download ...
Aug 23, 2007
Business intelligence (BI), analytics and corporate performance management (CPM) are three topics that spark interest and cause some confusion among SAP customers. In this podcast from Sapphire 2007, SearchSAP.com spoke with Nenshad Bardoliwalla, SAP's senior director for CPM solution management, to get the latest news and trends, clear up acronym confusion, and see what's coming next for SAP in the market. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
Sapphire takes place April 23-25 in Atlanta. As SAP's main end user event, there is always a wealth of news and networking opportunities. For the past couple of years, the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) Annual Conference has been co-located with Sapphire, further enhancing the educational opportunities for SAP users. This podcast with ASUG president Rod Masney previews the events and takes the pulse of what is on SAP users' minds. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
According to SAP, Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) and others, this year will see an increase in the number of customers upgrading to mySAP ERP. In this podcast, Matt Rickard, ASUG's director of groups and chapters and a member of its board, discusses some common upgrade questions. Rickard talks about technical versus functional upgrades, common problems, and resources users can turn to, among other things. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
According to SAP, xApps brought in more than $200 million in license revenue in 2006. SearchSAP.com interviewed Scott Campbell, SAP Practice Manager with Austin, Tex.-based MomentumSI, a consulting organization specializing in SOA, and Mo Ghanam, manager of partners and field enablement services at SAP Labs, about one of the more popular xApps: xMII. This stands for Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence and is utilized by manufacturing organizations. In this interview, Campbell and Ghanam d...
Aug 23, 2007
RFID technology continues to gain popularity, according to Josh Slobin, director of marketing for AeroScout. Based in San Mateo, Calif. AeroScout produces active, Wi-Fi-based RFID products. In this podcast, he gives some background on the topic, explains the differences between active and passive RFID technology, looks at some real-world cases, and gives advice for SAP users. Download this podcast here...
Aug 23, 2007
The market for SAP jobs is hot, with some SAP skills paying premiums over the general IT market. In this podcast with David Foote, president of Foote Partners LLC, find out which modules have a particularly rosy outlook and which ones aren't expected to fare as well. Foote also discusses how outsourcing could affect SAP professionals and gives a general market update and predictions for the upcoming year. Download to your favorite mobile device....
Feb 23, 2007
Members of the America's SAP Users' Group are taking part in about 60 influence councils that help shape application updates and fill gaps in SAP software. Learn more in this audio download. Listen here or download to your favorite mobile device.
Nov 30, 2006
Zia Yusuf, who leads SAP’s Platform Ecosystem unit, is finding software vendors that fill various gaps in SAP’s software. In a wide ranging interview, Yusuf explains his role shaping SAP’s strategy. Listen here or download to your favorite mobile device.
Oct 30, 2006
Michael Doane, founder and chief intelligence officer of Performance Monitor discusses his firms study of the top systems integrators. Listen here or download to your favorite mobile device.
Oct 04, 2006
Consultant Doug Whittle discusses the support issues SAP customers face after their new systems go live and the support strategies that get the most value out of an SAP system. Listen here or download to your favorite mobile device.
Oct 04, 2006
